teddy_bare

I had a very similar situation some years back.

Some of the staff dont seem to understand that supporting evidence is important. Thais in general seem to believe what they are fed. I briefed my wife and later the mother-in-law of what needed to be submitted and still they came out with important documentation on instruction from the VFS staff. I have one visa delayed because my financial details were not accepted.

My mother-in-law was told she should come back nearer her departure day to submit it. Luckily my Brother-in-law pushed it thru and we just got her visa in time.

The staff thought the visa runs out after 1 month of issue.

I blame lack of training, and the likely policy of LPTA lowest price technically acceptable!

Vent over.

Communism is where Man suppresses Man.

Democracy is the other way around

No need to give up drinking. I find that if you just stop the drinking and driving you don't need to worry.

My understanding is that he is feeling remorseful and guilty and in response is taking sensible action to avoid future infingements.

He was offered to pay a bribe of 6000 baht on the way to the police station, but refused on principle. So I think he has some moral fibre, just poor judgement on the drink driving.

he has some pride too, as he hasn't asked me for a lift yet.

Because of the BSE thing in the UK and Europe at the time. The staff at Chula will ask you if you were there during the years xx to xx, and if you say yes you cannot give blood.

He is from the UK, but hasn't been given a date to give blood.

Be aware,

A mate of mine was stopped in Bangkok on Rama 9 heading East at 3am. The police tested him and he was over the limit. At the police station he was locked in a cell and then later bailed by his wife for 20,000 baht. The day after he had to report back to the police station at Makkasan. From there he and his wife made their way to the courts on Ramkhamheang Road. The court was full of other people accused of drink driving. The judge read out each charge and the individuals went up to pay the fine. Between 5000 and 7000 baht. Some individuals were questioned and then my friend was questioned. Fairly routine questions and not really investigative. He was then told he was on probation for 2 years and received 24 hours community service and is banned for 6 months. Apparently everyone else also received the same sentence only the fines differed.

After court he had to go to the Probation Office on Ladpro road, where they took his photo with a name/number card hanging from his neck. Some more paperwork, including a map of where he lives and he was issued a small yellow book with 4 dates, 3 months apart. He has to report to the probation office every 3 months on the date or be arrested and spend 2 months in jail. His community service requires the giving of blood at the Chulalongkorn Hospital on a given date dictated by the Probation Office. Each blood taking counts as 4 hours.

The last bit of info is slightly confusing as he was told even after serving his 2 years probation he could still have to serve his 2 months. That bit seemed strange as I always thought probation was in lieu of prison. Maybe lost in translation or just a normal threat to make individuals adhere to the probation.

Subsequently, my mate has given up drinking!

To my knowledge you can not apply and receive a visa from a consulate of thailand whilst still in Thailand.

I have just found out for the UK you should also actually be classed as a resident (of UK) when applying although the return address can be in the UK or Europe.

Tell them you had a dream and that tortoises would provide winning lottery number if they got a new house!!

And we have a winner!

Tell them if their shells are clean you can see the lucky numbers on them.

They do release them for good luck. Not sure why. I was in a temple in Bangkok and my wife bought a frog, turtle and some fish, which I thought was dinner. Then we went down to the klong and they were released with a few words, a wai and the lighting of a couple of josh sticks.

Not sure if it worked as the police pulled us over on the way home.

Luckily western technology saved us the fine when I pointed at my in car video recorder and asked if he wanted to review me not breaking the law.

You are correct. Just take her in the British Line and go to the desk together.

Done it loads of times.

I have never had an issue and they have always been very polite in their Polish accents.

Seriously, you wont have any problems using the UK lane with you wife in tow. tell her she has to carry the baby thou hahaha.

I have a Barclays account, 2 in fact. Changing the UK address to a Thai address or back again causes no issues in my experience. I have changed the addresses both ways on numerious ocassions without any questions. Debt cards sent to Thai address no problems.

The only non related issue I had was when I tried to open a UK Western Union account online. They insisted I had a UK billing address. They subsequently lost business on that ocassion.

I also regularly transfer up to 5000 pounds from my UK account to my Thai Kasikorn Account. Again no issues.

Happy Banking

This does not work. I typed in a random 5 digit wep key, tested the connection and it failed. There must be alot more to this for the connection to work.

like I said, if it doesn't work the first time try it again.

Remember you are making your laptop into a wireless router (in effect). The random 5 digit wep key is just an easy way as your the only one likely to be using it. Remember the random digits as your PS3 will pick up the network and you will be required to input them to gain access.

You didnt say if your PS3 could see the network

If you are from the UK, get a second passport. When you are out of the country apply to Thai Consulate in Hull for whichever visa you need and are entitled to. They will return your passport and visa to a UK or EU address. from there get it sent to your place of work ready for your next trip to thailand.

Best option would be for an one year multi entry if you are entitled. Otherwise 90 day tourists visas would require you repeating the pattern over many times. This is totally legal and I have done it many times without an issues.

You can always make your laptop a wireless hub using a simple WEP password normally only 5 numbers or letters.

As long as you laptop is on you will be able to connect the PS3 to the internet via the laptop wirelessly.

the set up is easy to do. > Open Network and Sharing options > Setup new connection or network > Manually connect to a wireless network> Choice a name for your network> Change security to WEP > type in 5 letter/number password> Select start this setup automatically.

Your PS3 should be able to see your wireless network. Tap in the password and you are online.

If it doesnt work the first time just set up another one til it works. If you need to delete it at any point go to > manage wireless networks and delete any non working one.

Happy gaming

You will need to provide them with evidence of your residency in (I assume Thailand). You can move any number of pension schemes out. My understanding is that you must have been a expat for 5 years and have no intentions of residing in the UK again. If HMRC find out you are not an Expat they will tax you at 40% of the amount and fine you a futher 15%. Happened to my mates who believed the financial advisor based in Lativa. HMRC have subsequently banned them (the advisors) from dealing with QROPS out of the UK. They were telling their clients they were expats when in fact they had only been working overseas. They had retained a place of residency in the UK and HMRC classed them as residents.

PM me and I will put you in touch with a few advisors who seem to know their stuff.

Be aware the last government changed the way state pensions were calculated from RPI to CPI. Most unions for the public sector are backing a legal challenge to the change that is likely to be heard in the High Courts in October. The jist of the challenge was the Secretary of State at the time had no authority to change it and that the it is akin to the mis selling of PPI currently in the news

Anyhoo late now so sleepy time

The topless Silom show is the consequence of Thai soaps. In all these depict Good lookin' , elite and violent.

the girls and guys have flashy cars, nice mansions. the ending simple plot is similar to one another.

can't stand watching 'em.... !!!! ........

haven't they seen CSI, X-files, ER and Andromeda stain?

A Thai version of CSI wouldnt work here as it's about hard working dedicated criminal investigators who use their skills and training to methodically collect evidence, analysis and draw scientifical conclusions based on repeatably testable systems.

60 minutes of witnesses pointing at: pixilated dead bodies; crashed cars/bikes; bullet holes; cut padlocks; blood on the floor; ect ect ect. Would be fairly boring. Although the BIB conclusion methods would make you think you are watching the X files

Difficult to change behaviours and mindset, when you read the most thais accept corruption as long as people prosper. i am referring to a survey posted 6 months ago on this forum. the moral compass of this country is truly amazing.

My understanding is if you can access the internet you can access a relational database........you know the types used by police,major banks, goverments.....all very difficult to access I'm sure......

Your lack of knowledge in IT is really obvious.

If they are to be able to use their tablet computers outside of school to access the internet, they will need to be either in a wireless network "hotspot" (which can cost money - to use at home they'll need to set up internet access with a wireless network router, or to use at a cafe they may need to pay per hour) or have a 3G/EDGE account (which costs money, like a mobile phone contract).

Not true, if they have a laptop with WIFI capability they can set up a Ad Hoc wireless network and use their laptop as the wifi router. PM me for full details

Don't be so negative, everyone.

With the standard of teaching in most Thai schools being under the zero line, it will enable the few kids who want to, to learn.

Indeed Humphrey, it would enable those who want to learn.

It would also provide the "real-time" connection to news, information, images etc that the internet has to offer to the Thai people in the remotest areas.

This kind of access to news information for everyone would be productive towards a truly democratic Thailand. Or... will it be heavily censored / monitored?

Doesn't need censored. the lack of bandwidth to international sites will soon tire them. Asked by TOT to do a bandwidth test from my home (Bangkok) to their server in Bangkok. I got a really high speed! Unbelievable almost, my phones lines should have melted at the baub rating. When I told them of my own reading to an international one, it was much less impressive. Conclusion, the authorities must think Thais only search for 5hit from based Thai websites. rant ends, back to work

This is a great thread....... Yes -- and all the nice do-gooders get a gold star next to their name on the bulletin board.

But that's not the idea of random acts of kindness. We don't give a shit about getting any recognician. The joy you get is doing the deed. I used to be a tightwad who watched every penny. Now I'm much happier giving my money away to people who need it more than me. It came like an epiphany for me and I've changed 180 degrees from what I was once like. And, I'm MUCH happier because of it..

It's been psychologically proven that giving makes the individual giving happier than if they were receiving. I guess people like Buffet and Gates are leading the way in highlighting these finding. After I read the report, I tried it. It definately works. And as others have said, it works for them. I am not quite in a position where I can give loads away, but even the smallest of gifts makes someones day.

It has been very interesting to read your comments. It is apparent that it is a very sensitive subject with people accepting the use of the word, others explaining that is not a negative word, while others like myself are uncomfortable with its usage.

I guess my post was misunderstood. Our family is multicultural and we strive to teach our children that all people are equal and should all be afforded human dignity and respect. It was confusing for my kids to hear adults and children use farang and in some cases derogatory words towards other ethnic groups in Thailand such as Chinese, hill tribes, muslims, etc.,

It is not my intention to debate the merits of using racial stereo typing but to get an understanding from like-minded parents of how they explain this behavior to their children. It can be confusing to them and I want to make sure that they understand that this is wrong behavior.

It does bother me because I know the root of intolerance, bigotry, and the need to feel superior to others is ignorance, fear, and lack of self-confidence. This is what I am telling my children that people use this word because they are ignorant and do not understand and are sometimes not happy people. We also study that there are some people who use nationalism to get elected to power in government. These politicians tend to use religion,fear and hate.

We also use this as a learning tool. We read stories about children experiencing civil rights abuses in the US and discuss why people act this way and how it makes people feel. I am quite amazed that my kids understand and I am even more humbled by their sense of justice for others in the world.

I know that many Thais will take offense and are overtly sensitive to any critical analysis of their culture and country. The people in the West are very critical of their own culture and we are always striving to improve. I do have to say that multi-culturalism is getting stronger in the US and the children being brought up in this new and exciting environment will be so much better off than their parents.

I think your use of this issue as a learning tool could benefit many on this forum.

The amount of ignorance, fear and lack of confidence displayed here equals that found on the streets of Thailand.

This is probably one of the most positive posts on ThaiVisa for a while. Getting fed up of reading about people getting scammed, robbed etc. Seems to be a lot of haters out there.

My wife dotes on me too.

Since this story now seems to be an anti Thai rant, lovemoney.com just reported Thailand as being the number one retirement destination. This survey was voted by the respondants not the website. seems like a lot of sour people out there. I found I didnt like the UK so I moved. It you don't like something do sonething about it. Everyone has the choice, few have the bottle by the sounds of it

When you plug your iPhone on your computer, I know iTune can identify your phone, I mean not your tel number, but the serial number of your phone. And without iTune there is a lot of things you can't do with your iPhone. I guess Apple should have a way to do something but I tried to call their hotline, nobody answers, maybe because it's Sunday ...I'll try again tomorrow

Key in the following on any phone and it gives you the serial number of the phone. *#06#

You need to do this before your phone is lost stolen etc.

With this serial certain organisations can switch on the phone remotely without any light or sound emissions. The phone then acts as a microphone. It can then also be located via trianglation. All this is possible if the battery is on. Doesnt matter who's sim card is in it.

Telecommunication companies can also send a signal to kill the phone. It basically fries the circuits making a stolen phone inoperatable and worthless to the thief

I find this comment entertaining, " the authorities will have to check if Thailand has extradition agreements with those countries.". Surely this is not something shrouded in mystery? Perhaps they should try Google, " "At present, Thailand has extradition treaties with 14 countries - the US, UK, Canada, China, Belgium, Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, South Korea, Bangladesh, Fiji, and Australia.".

I guess our Red Pimpernel is safe for the moment then

Perhap the honourable minister uses the same TOT internet service I have. When asked by the call center to do a speed test from my location (BKK) to the location of the test center (BKK) its near full speed surprisingly. When I point out I actually want to surf websites outside of Thailand there is much shock and awe. Apparently they dont have many people doing this thus the service is pish.

Clean the fans. Although not very dusty in Thailand, you'll be amazed at the stuff that gets in your fans. Talc mainly in my house. You can buy compressed air in a can or simply blow into the intake without spitting.

Out

India is also fairly corrupt. The newest thing there is this website:

http://ipaidabribe.com/

Seems to be activitely used and becoming respected by the bribe takers

Bank with Barclays. No problems in 7 years of having a Thai address. Cards arrive, statements arrive. The only issue which was solved with one phone call, was they once stopped my card as they saw it used in Thailand! Once I called the Fraud center and had them check my address they reinstated the card and i used it within 10 minutes of the call. I was infact still stood next to the ATM.

Some people seem to have the worst of luck with everything.